The History of Eureka UMC

Methodist have been congregating in the South-Central Navarro County since the late 1840s and 1850s when Anglo and Irish American settlers arrived and formed the community then known as Dunn's Schoolhouse.  Like most others on the Texas frontier, this congregation was served by circuit riding ministers and held seasonal camp meetings.  By the eve of the Civil War, the Dunn's Schoolhouse congregation was sufficiently established in hosting Quarterly Meeting of the Corsicana Circuit of Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

No records of the Methodist congregation remain from the Reconstruction period.  By the 1880s, however, the group acquired a tract of land owned by Mark H. Bird (1822-1882), another early immigrant to Eureka.  In 1881, for a sum of $2 and "in consideration of the love and admiration for said church and the religion taught by it," Bird deeded five acres the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, "upon condition that said church erect a suitable house of worship upon said ground within a reasonable time and that said house and said grounds be used exclusively for church purposes and said grounds also as a burial ground or cemetery for the people of that vicinity."  

By the 1960s, however, it was clear that an even larger facility was necessary, and as a result the present brick educational wing of the church was build.  This construction was the first of a three-part building program that included a new parsonage, which was erected in the 1970s and the present sanctuary, complete in 1983.

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Pastors Since 2000

Tom Connolly     2000-2005

David Ricker        2005-2010

Ted Willis              2010-2012

Amy Anderson    2012-2014

Rodney Wallace   2014-2016

Bill Manney          2016-2022

Helen Brock         2022-2023

Michael Miller     2023-Present